bailey



'(No Model.) I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. l T. BAILEY.

PIRBPROOF BUILDING CONSTRUCTION. No. 576.712.` hunted Peb. 9, 1897.

el@ L (No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet 2.

T. BAILEY. TIRBPROOP BUILDING ooNsTRUcTIolm N0 576.71.2- Patentedreb.9,1897..

VV'WNESSES. l INYENTEIR.

with the beams.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEETCE.

THOMAS BAILEY, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

FIREPROOF-BUILDINGCONSTRUCTION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 576,712, dated February9, 1897'. Application filed CI'annarylS, 1896. Serial No. 575,939. (Nomodel.)

To all whom, t may con/067%:

Be it known that I, THOMAS BAILEY, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of New York city, in the county and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Fireproof-BuildingConstruction, of which the following is a specification.

The essential objects ot' my invention are to construct floors generallyso as to be more eifectively protected from fire, and to provide forpiping and wiring to better advantage in the first place, and for beingmore accessible afterward for alterations and repairs, and my inventionalso comprises an improved construction of iireproof partitions, ashereinafter described, reference being made to the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure l represents transverse sections of iioors inwhich wood beams are used and a section of a iireproof partition. Fig. 2is a transverse section of a ioor and ceiling according to myimprovement with arched beam-filling. Fig. 3 is a transverse section ofmy improved floor and ceiling when the beam-iilling is iiat. Fig. 4 is aplan view of a iioor with parts in horizontal section. Fig. 5 is asection of part of a floor on line Figs. 2 and 4.

In Fig. l I represent the ordinary woodsupporting beams a, which arestill preferred -in many forms of building, but in the other figures Irepresent the more modern construction, consisting, essentially, ofmetal beams b, with reproof filling between the beams supported on thelower ianges c of said beams.

As now constructed with wood beams a the wood flooring b is laiddirectly on the wood beams, and the ceiling of lath and plaster isattached directly to the under sides of the beams, whereby on the upperside the entire floor structure is directly exposed to fire and on theunder side the plaster affords but little protection, and in the presentironbeam construction wood beams are placed on the iron beamstransversely to receive the floor-boards d, which are thus laid parallelIn case of ire' above the iioor the iron beams are directly exposed toheat and liable to bend and twist. Whether I use wood or iron beams Iprovide a fireproof cover as f or g, of suitable thickness, aboveagainst burning the wood beams or overheating the iron beams, and onthis cover I lay the wood floor d, and under the beams I suspend asubstantial iireproof ceiling, as 7l. or e', in any approved way, as byhooks j or `other means, said ceiling being suspended at a distancebelow the beams, affording ample space for circulation of air and forlaying the water, gas, and other pipes, as 7e, and electric wires on, orsuspending them above it under the beams, Where they can be run in anydirection to better advantage than when laid between the beams, fromwhich itis diflicult to direct them crosswise of the beams, as they mustbe in many cases, and the electric wires being laid on the iireproofceiling will be free of contact with the wood beams and danger of firewill be greatly reduced without the necessity of incasin g them intubes. Together with this provision for free circulation of air betweenthe ceiling and the iioor inlet and outlet iiues l and m may be providedin the walls n in any suitable way, whereby cool air will constantlycirculate between the ceilings and the iioor for the protection of theoorbeams even when the contents of the room may be burning.

The protective cover f, of fireproof material, for the wood beams mayconsist of any approved form of metallic support resting on the beamsand carrying a layer of plaster or cement; but I prefer to use dovetailcorrugated metallic sheets 0, covered on one or both sides with theprotective material and supported at the extremities of the ribs on thebeams. The protective plaster interlocks with the ribs and grooves ofthe sheets in a way to make substantial covering. IVhere it is desirableto nail the hoor-boards d, dovetail wood pieces p vmay be driven in thegrooves of thev sheets to receive and hold the nails, or they can benailed through the protective cover into the beams.

For the ceiling I will suspend any approved form of flanged bars, asT-bars q or I-bars, having flanges on which to support slabs or platesof the protective material, which may be of any approved constructiombutfor which I also prefer to use dovetail corrugated sheets o, coveredwith the protective material, which in this instance will be applied onboth sides.

the upper edges of the beams for protection IOO These slabs being thusmade are very substantial and adapted for the support of work men whilelaying the pipes and wires in the lirst place before the beam-filling ispnt in, and they afford a sectional construction of the ceiling easilyremovable in sections from below when repairs or alterations of thepipes or wires may afterward be required, it being only required tobreak the coating of plaster applied under the slabs and bars for theiinish along said bars and at the meeting edges oi the corrugatedplates. Instead of the above-described construction of the ceiling,terra-cotta or other bricks .smay be laid on supporting-bars t, arrangedat intervals apart along the flanges of the bars q, which may also bereadily removed in sections `for access to the piping and wires.

The protective filling c between the metal beams may be supported onarched T or other flanged bars u or like straight bars r, placed 4atsuitable intervals apart along the lower 'ilanges of the beams l), withdovetail corrugated sheet-metal plates n' resting on the bars to holdthe protective iilling c above; but plain sheets may be used in lieu ofthe corrugated sheets, the sheets being sufficiently thicker forstrength and the bars Au and r being placed closer together, or bricksor tiles may be used. YVhen straight bars, as r, are used, the endsmaybe placed on short legs 1/, standing on the flanges c of thefloor-beams to limit the thickness of the protective lling c foravoiding unnecessary weight of the same. Then arched bars u are used,there will be little or no escess of this part of the filling. Theweight of the lilling material being thus largely reduced as comparedwith the common arrangement, in which it is usually about the full depthof the beams, more of the weight-supporting power of the iloor may beutilized for goods upon the floor.

For protection of the upper edges of the iron beams from fire of thewood floor and the wood beams on which the floor-boards are laid, beams,as z, may be laid in the protective -filling parallel with the ironbeams and wholly cover the iron beams with the protective materialinstead of placing the wood beams crosswise on the iron beams, andtherebyT not onlyT protect the iron beams more effectually, but alsohave an economical advantage in the matter of the wood floors inbuildings of com paratively narrow widths in which the iron beamstraverse the building the shortestway from wall to wall, so that thefloor-boards, being laid lengthwise in the longest dimension from wallto wall, will finish at the end with less waste of material to be cutoit on account of excess of length at the finish.

The improvement which I have now made in the construction of ireprootpartitions is illustrated in Fig. 1, wherein a represents the metallicportion of the partition as dovetail corrugated sheets set with the ribsand grooves upright and extending from ceiling to ceiling and thereatarranged in channel-bars b', whereby the space between the floor andceiling is also partitioned, asa means of preventing the spreading offire in the space, and the partitions of the different stories areprefer ably placed one above another, so that the weight of the entireseries of partitions is supported on the foundation and the iloors arerelieved of it, whereby the weightsupportin g power of the floors may befurther utilized for goods. As the width of the corrugatedpartition-sheets is less than the height between ceilings, they will bespliced by means of I-bars c'. The partitions may, however, be supportedon the floors, when desired.

The sides of the partition-sheets c' will be plastered, as at d', theplaster being 'anchored in the dovetail grooves.

l claim as my inventionl. The combination with a floor, of a eeil ingconsisting ot a separate structure adapted for and having arrangedthereon the usual systems of piping and wiring of buildings, andsuspended at an appropriate distance from the VHoor thereforsubstantially as described.

2. The combination with a l'loor, of a ceiling consisting of a separatesectional structure adapted for removal of the sections separately, andalso adapted for and having arranged thereon the usual systems of pipingand wiring ot buildings, and suspended at an appropriate distance fromthe i'loor therefor substantially as described.

El. The combination with a floor, of a suspended ceiling consisting of aseparate sectional structure composed of flanged suspended bars.,transverse supports for protective material carried on the flanges ofsaid suspended bars, and protective material earricd on the supportstherefor substantially as described.

Il. The combination with a floor, of a suspended ceiling consisting of aseparate sectional structure composed of langed suspended bars,transverse bars supported on the flanges ot' said suspended bars, andtiles or slabs of protective material supported on said transverse barssubstantially as described.

5. The combination in llreproof-building construction of independentprotected iloors and ceilings, the latter suspended below the beams, andilreproot' partitions which extend upward from one ceiling to anotherthrough the i'loor for also partitioning the space between the licor andthe suspended ceiling substantially as described.

Signed at New York city, in the county and State of New York, this Bistday of December, A. D. 1895.

THOMAS BAILEY.

lVitnesses:

W. J. MORGAN, A. P. THAYER.

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